Prefabricated building



9, 1940. l A, T. LEVY 2,186,459 v PREFABRICATED BUILDING Fiied sept, 22, '1957 A TTORNEY Patented yJan. 9, 1940 2,186,459 y l PREEABRICATED BUILDING r 'L I Austin T. Levy, Harrisville, Rt 5IN., V-

' Application September 2 AMy invention relates to prefabricatedbuildings.

l'It' has heretofore. beenproposed to construct the roofs' of prefabricated buildings as inthe patent to Levens No. 1,599,335, wherein the roof comprises av series vof sheathingsections whichv may be placed between adjacent 1rafters `and which have the roofing members arranged lon.-

gitudinally of the rafters, While the roofing meml bers rare held together by purlins and the sheathy' ing sections are held in place by fastening mem-2 berspassing intovholes in the sides ofthe rafters. Such a construction',` While having some advantages, isdifiicult' and costly to make and also to' assemble, this last being due to the fact that the fastening members require holes to be made in the rafters in exact receiving location and must be'necessarily bolted lto the purlins. f Thus, considerable time and expense is involved not only- 3' placing the section betweenv the rafters.

My invention has among its objects to eliminate theabove difficulties and to rfacilitate 'the erectionv of prefabricated roof structures', while reducing theV cost-of such construction and assembling. A further object of my invention is to provide an improved roof unit which may be readily and quickly assembled against the rafters bytheuseof nails or similar driven-fasteners.` without requiring any special rafter construction an improved unitary panel which mayv be assem` bled in place between adjacent raftersvsimply `by lowering the same into position Aand ,without requiring bringing various parts into register or roof receivable in said holes. A still further ob;- ject ofy my invention is to provide improved purlin strips adapted to cooperate with such unitsand f with the rafters and tov-be quickly and easily at- 1 tached thereto by nails or the like,` whilealso having a strong upstanding web to support the roofers kand a flange to which the roofers may vbe securely fastened. kThese and other advan-4 hereinafter more fully appear. .l

In the accompanyingv drawing, I have` shown for purposes of illustration one embodiment which my invention may' assume in practice. In the drawing,

Figure 1 is an elevational view of 'a building,

showing a sub-structure for the roofing surface formed of my improved units;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view `on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; H

in making but in assembling each section and in V A'further object of my invention istoproduce providing holes in rafters or members on )thev tages of 'my improved construction will, however.,V

Fig.` isfasectionalview on the line 3-3 of? Fig; 4 is a broken perspective viewrof one of the* purlins. v 4

'In thisillustrative construction, I have shown v, a roof structure, `generally indicated-atl in Fig ure 1, comprising spaced rafters 2 of standard [y form,`i. e.` free from special slots or notches, and

room panels or units 3 of my improved construction disposed and supported in an improved manl. ner between yadjacentrafters` Theimproved roo-fing panel ror unit 3 is supported at each edge on one-half of the uppery surface-of a standard rafter 2, whilethe adjacent or 'next successive panel has `its edge resting on the other half rofthe' upper surface ofthe rafter.

Thus, a .continuous roofing .sub-structure is formedy when the panelshave been placed, so,

' the suitable roofing material 4, such as shingles or the like, may be applied as desired while uti lizing standard rafters.v Referring more particu- Alarl'y to Fig. 2, it will be noted that the panel Bis made up of longituuiinally disposed roofers 5 laidY inthe same general rdirection as the rafters 2` and preferably of substantially the same length as the rafters. The roofers 5 may be, in the form of tongue and groove, matched boards, `as shown; or may be straight edgedboards of the usual' roofer type.- Where tongue and groove boards are used, however, the outer roeiers forming the panels 3 are provided with no' tongue or groove, in order' thatthe panels may be placed in' position readily Without the necessity of vmaking a ldriving t.

v Referring to Figs. 3 land e, it will be noted thatI have, in accordance -with my invention,

made use offa series of improved purlins of im-r proved construction, disposed in spaced relation and transversely of the roofers 5 and connecting l these yroofers into a unit. The purlins 8 may be of any suitable shapeor material of light weight,-

but herein areeach preferably in the form of anl Aangle bar having a relatively' long upright web. `or yverticaljleg l. .Ashort or horizontal leg` 8 of the angle bar is also preferably ati the top thereof and herein provided with holes d' at regular intervalsv through which nails. or other fastening means may bedrivenxinto the underside of the roofers to hold the same against the purlin. At the ends of each purlin, a shortv section of the leg 8 of the. angle vbar is removed and each end of the angle bar is'bent at Vright angles, to pro- VVidela supporting surface l,llly which is adapted to rest against thev side of the lrafter when the panel is placed in position. Thus, with the roof.-

ers secured to the series of purlins and the ends of each purlin supplied with holes Il, the units thus formed may be rmly secured to the rafter by nails vl2 passing through these holes l l.

In the use of my improvement, it is made possible to build up panel units by fastening a suitl between any two adjacent rafters, two, three or more units then being disposed end to end in said space, so that roofers of only a practical commercial length need be used.

It will be noted that not only is the manufacturing cost of a panel roong'structure materially reduced by my improvement, but also that the erection of the panels has been facilitated and expedited. Whereas panels previously have required that they be handled and placed in a cer-l tain and exact manner between therafters, my improved construction enables panels to be lowered readily into place so that the bent ends of the purlins abut against the inside surface of therafters and the edges of the panels receive supportfrom the upper surface of the rafters.V

Further, it will be evident that-.my improved construction requires only the use of nails to fasten the panels in place instead of bolts, tie-rods or other fastening means, such aswould require additional time and expense in assembly. It Will also be evident that the holes in the bent ends of the purlins are in a readily available position so that nails may be driven therethrough into the rafters without the expenditure of any extraordinary time and effort. It will also be noted that 'my improved panel is easily assembled before being lifted into place, and that it is capable of supporting heavy roofing surfaces, while at the same time requiring a minimum number of parts. These and other advantages of my improved construction will, however, be clearly apparent to those skilled in the art.

While I have in this application specifically described one embodiment which my invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that this form is shown for purposes of illustration, and that the same may be modified and embodied -in other forms without departing from its spirit or the scope ofthe appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a roof construction, a plurality of spaced rafters, roofers operatively connected to form a unit and arranged in adjacent relation to one another and longitudinally of the rafters to cover the space between adjacent rafters, and means within the lateral limits of the roofers comprising said unit for connecting said unit to said rafters and insertable from above the rafters.

2. In a roof construction, a plurality of spaced rafters, roofers'arranged in adjacent relation to one another and longitudinally ofthe rafters, purlin strips holding said roofers together to form a unit extending between centers of said rafters, and connecting means on said strips disposed within the lateral limits ofthe roofers comprising said unit and insertable between the rafters when said unit is lowered therebetween and having side abutments adapted to be fixed to the sides of the rafters.

3. In a roof construction, a plurality of standard rafters, roofing members operatively connected to form a unit extending longitudinally of and between said standard rafters, and means for connecting said unit to said rafters disposed within the lateral limits of the roofing members comprising said unit and insertable from above i the rafters.

4. In a roof construction, a plurality of spaced rafters, roofers arranged in adjacent relation t0 one another and longitudinally of the rafters to cover the space between rafters, purlin strips disposed transversely of the roofers and connected thereto to form a unit, and means disposed within the lateral limits of the roofers comprising said unit and including bent angular portions at the ends of the purlin strips for securing the same to the inner edges of said rafters.

5. In a roof construction, a plurality of spaced rafters, a unitary panel enclosing the space between adjacent rafters and resting on the edges of the rafters, saidr panel comprising roofers extending longitudinally of said rafters, and purlins 'being of angular cross section to support said roofers and having bent ends for securing the same to said rafters, said purlins and said bent ends being disposed within the lateral limits of the roofers comprising said panel and connected to said roofers to form a unit insertable from above the rafters. f

v 6. Ina roof construction, a plurality of spaced rafters, a unitary panel enclosing* the space `between adjacent rafters, said panel lcomprising matched roofers extending longitudinally of said rafters, and purlins having a ange for supporting said roofers and havingbent ends for securing the same to said rafters, said purlins and bent ends being disposedwithin the-lateral limits of the roofers comprising said panel and connected to said roofers to form a unit insertable from above the rafters.

7. A unitary panel fora supporting structure between rafters comprising roofing members adapted to extend longitudinally of theirafters, purlins supporting said roofing members, and means on said purlins for connecting the same to the sides of said rafters, said purlins and said means thereon being disposed within the lateral limits of the roofing members comprising said panel and connected to said members to form a unit insertable from above the rafters.

8. A unitaryfpanel for a supporting structure between rafters comprising roofing members adapted to extendflongitudinally of the rafters, spaced angle-shaped purlins supporting said roong members, andV means including bent ends of said purlins for connecting the same to the sides of said rafters, said purlins andv said bent ends thereon being disposed within the lateral limits of the roong members comprising said panel and connected to said members to form a unit insertable fromabove the rafters.

AUSTIN T. LEVY. 

